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Dissemination at Education fair Informativa 2016 in Ljubljana
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On the 22 and 23 January 2016 the 8th Informativa – the fair for education and professions took place in Ljubljana. At this fair secondary school as well as faculties, universities and other types of education institutions from almost all parts of Slovenia present their study programmes and future professions to potential students. We took this opportunity to present our project to a broader public – students, teachers, parents and other visitors of the fair. We prepared brochures with the description of our project but we also presented the e-learning platform and the material on it so far. In addition we presented the Front Desk programs and showed how they worked. We also presented the mobile apps and how they worked. They were the most popular, especially with students. However, they also found the e-learning platform very interesting and useful – for individual studying but also for using it in class. We were also visited by Mrs Nataša Hafner-Vojčić, a representative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, who is also involved in Erasmus+ activities. She was very enthusiastic and impressed by the work that had been done so far. The project is also listed in the catalogue published by the event organiser.
Erna Vöröš
Project manager of Ekonomsska šola Murska Sobota
Dissemination at traditional event Najdi študij.si – Pomurje 2016 at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota
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On the 20 January 2016 the traditional event Najdi študij.si – Pomurje 2016 took place at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota. This is a type of education fair on a smaller scale where educational institutions from all parts of Slovenia come to Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota to present their study programmes to potential students from the region. The event started a few years ago as this was cheaper for the students from our region than going to Ljubljana, where the education fair Informativa on a bigger scale takes place every year. This year about 30 different educational institutions presented their study programmes. We took the opportunity to present our project to students from all parts of the region and they were mostly impressed by the mobile apps which is not a real surprise considering that they spend a lot of time using their mobile phones. We also presented the Front Desk programs and the e-learning platform which they found interesting as well but their favourites were the mobile apps.
Erna Vöröš
Project manager of Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota
Teachers’ Workshop at Turiba University
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On February 10, 2016, a workshop was held for lecturers of Language Department of Turiba University, Latvia. The language teachers were introduced with the developed study materials within the project „Key Skills for European Union Hotel Staff”, so that they could use the modules in the study process for students of Tourism study programme later on.
The teachers pointed out that the modules developed for A2/B1 level – Hotel reception, Restaurant, Hotel Business centre, Restaurant kitchen, City, Management offices – will help students to independently develop their reading and listening of the chosen foreign language (EN, IT, HR, LV, SL, RO, HU, GE, FR, RU, ES, GR). The teachers will also be using the modules as a supplementary material for the following language courses: English, German, Spanish, French, Latvian and Russian to enhance students’ reading, listening and speaking skills.
The 6 in-depth modules developed for the English language (B2/C1 level)-Hotel Front Office, Catering Service, Conference and Business Services, Off site Services, Financial Management and Hotel Management will be piloted as a component of the regular language course as well.
After piloting, there will be a survey for lecturers and students in order to receive a feedback on the Learning platform and study materials, discover mistakes and get recommendations for improvement.
Evita Vecvagare
Team member of Turiba University, Latvia
The “Skills4Hotels” project dissemination at the travel tradeshow “Balttour 2016”
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On 5 February 2016, two project team members from Turiba University visited the international tourism fair “Balttour 2016” in Kipsala International Exhibition Centre, in Riga, Latvia.
„Balttour” is the biggest and most important travel tradeshow in the Baltic countries, which opens the new tourist season in the region and creates a festive feeling for industry professionals and travelers. More than 470 exhibitors and 850 participating organizations from 41 countries participated in this year’s “Balttour”.
“Skills4Hotels” project leaflets were disseminated at the fair and the project members informed representatives of the hotel sector – Avalon hotel, Islande hotel, Baltic Beach Hotel, Hotel Jūrmala SPA and others- about the project and the possibility for hotel employees to improve their language skills by using the created materials.
Anete Veipane and Evita Vecvagare
project team members of Turiba University
Latvia
PROJECT MULTIPLIER EVENT IN RIGA, TURIBA UNIVERSITY
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The second project multiplier event (E1-B2) was held in Turiba University, Riga, Latvia on September 24, 2015. It was titled “Workshop 2 on Smartphone Apps and FrontDesk 2 program”. The aim of the workshop was to present to language teachers from the local area both the project and the materials that had been produced during the first year of the project implementation.
33 participants attended the event: 22 language teachers, seven industry representatives and four participants representing management of education institutions. 17 participants were invited local participants, six were Latvian project team members (also local) who also taught foreign languages at the University and adult education centres of Latvia, ten were project members from other partner institutions.
The multiplier event was prepared jointly by all partners and managed by Turiba University – the host of the third project meeting. The seminar agenda included project presentation, presentation of the needs analysis report, presentation of the curriculum designed, demonstration of the smartphone apps and FrontDesk program and explanation on how they could be used in improving language skills and service in accommodation and catering enterprises. The workshop participants also had a hands-on-experience while trying out the smartphone app on their mobile phones. They agreed that the application would definitely help finding relevant phrases at their daily work. Next, language learning tasks for A2/B1 language competence levels and the created Moodle Learning platform were demonstrated. These courses were especially welcomed by language teachers who said that they would definitely use the course in their language classes as well as suggest their students for improving their language competence. Moreover, they admitted that they would be using the materials designed for improving their language skills in other foreign languages. Finally, the seminar participants had a chance to get the first-hand information about the next course – B2/C1 English language course – that would be created and also piloted during the second year of the project implementation. Official presentations and discussions continued in social atmosphere and the project team got many useful ideas on how to make the created materials more user-friendly and attractive for the industry needs.
More information is available on: http://www.language4hotel.eu/index.php/public-documents
Dr.paed. Ineta Luka
Professor
Manager of Turiba University project team
The paper „ENHANCING EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS FOR TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY EMPLOYEES IN EUROPE” published in the Scholarly Journal „ACTA PROSPERITATIS 6”
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The twenty-first century has brought many challenges for economies and societies. Increased mobility, the worldwide web, and the instant information spread place people in previously unknown contexts and situations that require immediate analysis, decision-making and problem solving. Traditional approaches to these often seem ineffective and therefore new tools and methods have to be applied. This situation sets new targets for education providers worldwide.
The 2015 issue of the Scholarly Journal of Turiba University “Acta Prosperitatis” is the sixth issue of the Journal. The unifying theme of this multidisciplinary issue is the development of employability skills in compliance with the stakeholders’ needs and it addresses the issues that are significant towards meeting development goals of the society and better employability. The Journal can be accessed online on http://www.turiba.lv/f/Makets_AP6_FINAL.pdf
Language competence is a significant employability skill. Language learning is an important EU priority as it is also a tool for mobility and intercultural understanding. The EU Language Policy postulates that multilingualism is an important component of increasing the EU competitiveness. One of the objectives of the EU’s language policy is therefore that every European citizen should master two other languages in addition to their mother tongue.
The paper “Enhancing Employability Skills for Tourism and Hospitality Industry Employees in Europe” by Professor Ineta Luka deals with the analysis of employability skills relevant for work in tourism and hospitality industry. The topicality of the study is underlined by the fact that tourism has turned into a key driver of socioeconomic progress through export revenues, the creation of jobs and enterprises, and infrastructure development. The author analyses the results obtained in an international survey conducted in the framework of the “Key Skills for the EU Hotel Staff” in five EU countries: Latvia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Romania. The study reveals findings from two international surveys – 85 language teachers and 131 top-level managers of hospitality enterprises. Based on the theory analysed the following employability skills for tourism and hospitality industry employees and students were defined: leadership, team working, collaboration skills, intercultural competences, presentation skills, communication skills, and an ability to use several languages at work.
Please visit the following link for more information about:
Dr.paed. Ineta Luka
Professor
Project manager of Turiba University, Latvia
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.